A local’s playbook to Makati-maxxing

Makati has been gaining popularity (not that it has ever been out of its game), but social media, especially TikTok, has given the city a brand-new personality. Trends like “Salcedo girlie” and “United States of Makati” show just how many interesting things the city has to offer. All of a sudden, the routines locals have had for years have been given names and tied to certain aesthetics.

But when you have lived here for most of your life, what feels like a spectacle to others can simply be the norm. The places people intentionally visit might just be where you usually buy late dinner or somewhere your family has been taking you since childhood.

So what is it actually like to live here, move through here, and call this city home? If you think this is a list of the newest or coolest places in the city, well… it’s not. Instead, it’s a field guide to the spots that have stood the test of time and captured the hearts of many Makati residents.

When Makati feels like a neighborhood

Ayala Car-Free Sundays

On Sundays, one of Makati’s busiest streets becomes one of its most inclusive and democratic public spaces.

You will see all kinds of people here — runners, families, athletes, and sometimes even a celebrity. For a few hours, Ayala Avenue kind of becomes an equilibrium. You’ll see people from all walks of life sharing the same road, stripped of whatever separates us during the week.

You come to realize that, after all, we are just people longing for an open space in the heart of the city.

Power Plant Mall

Power Plant or “Rockwell” to locals, is actually less of a mall and more like one big living room.

There’s a running joke that if you go here on a Sunday, you’ll bump into everyone you’ve ever known: old classmates, former coworkers, and even ex-situationships (lol).

Rockwell’s tight-knit community is exactly its appeal, which is why it has earned its place as a third space for many locals.

For when you want to gather family and friends

Romulo Café on Jupiter Street and Milky Way along Arnaiz Avenue

The OGs! For lunch with family — or any group large enough to make choosing a restaurant complicated — there are these two.

Both are reliable classics that serve homestyle Filipino food for multigenerational tastes. It also helps that they have warm, stand-alone settings that feel more like grandma’s house than usual commercial spaces.

They have also been around long enough to witness many milestones in the lives of Makati residents. A baptism, an engagement party, a birthday celebration — eventually, another generation grows up and returns with a family of their own.

Pablo Bistro

A MICHELIN Guide-selected Spanish restaurant in the heart of Salcedo Village, Pablo Bistro is one of those places that is easy to keep in mind if you live or work in Makati.

It is open from 7 am to 12 mn, so it works for almost any kind of plan. That flexibility makes it an easy meeting place for all kinds of groups. Whenever everyone becomes available, there is a good chance it is still open.

Papillon

Also selected by the MICHELIN Guide, Papillon is for girls’ night or date night when you want something a little more elevated. Its dramatic Asian interiors give you a reason to turn up the ante a bit.

It can get busy as it often hosts private events, so it’s worth reserving ahead.

Where Makati feels a little fancy

The Peninsula Manila lobby

Sometimes, you want to feel a little fancy, and for that, there is the Pen lobby. This place carries an older image of Makati in all its grandeur, reflecting the dreams and ambition Makati has always represented.

There is always the piano, and from Thursday to Sunday, an orchestra. It’s where you can have your usual coffee or tea when you want something a little more upscale than a café.

For when you want to go solo

Commune

Commune lives up to its name. Apart from serving Philippine coffee, it has become a meeting place for the different communities that pass through Poblacion.

Its second floor also serves as a haven for creatives. You can catch a workshop, an improv show, or a small performance. It’s a place that has actually built a community for various creative groups.

The Curator

This well-loved place understands the city like no other. It’s a café by day, then come evening, its not-so-secret bar opens. After more than a decade in the Legazpi Village neighborhood, it remains the kind of place both locals and visitors make a point of visiting.

Makati before the aesthetic

Chino Roces area (Little Tokyo, Makati Cinema Square)

Long before Japanese food went ubiquitous, locals flocked to Chino Roces for reliable favorites at Little Tokyo, while nearby Makati Cinema Square (officially Makati Central Square) retains its unpretentious charm — a retro hub where you can find old-school eateries, bowling alleys, art galleries, and eccentric bars. The ukay-ukay stalls here also draw a younger generation of thrift shoppers.

To see Makati as a local is to know the city in all its contradictions. It is glass towers and narrow side streets, MICHELIN-recognized restaurants and Jolly Jeep meals, and so much more.

People may come for the version of Makati they have seen online, but when you’ve lived here most of your life, you come to recognize it in all its versions. Still, Makati has never belonged only to those who live here.

Every day, it welcomes people who come to work, eat, explore, or simply find their place in the city. And maybe this is why “Makati-maxxing” has captured the attention of many. The city leaves enough room for everyone to make some part of it their own. – Rappler.com